Weft needle drive means



Feb. 1, 1966 w s 3,232,321

WEFT NEEDLE DRIVE MEANS Filed Sept. 50, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: fii'Dewas Ghfluhx- A TORNEBS Feb, I, 1966 R. DEWAS 3,232,321

WEFT NEEDLE DRIVE MEANS Filed Sept. 30, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VEN R:

R. DeWaS ATTOP-NGBS United States Patent Claims. ici. 139-123 This invention relates to improvements in weaving machines and concerns weaving machines with a continuous weft supplied by spools situated outside the shed.

Some Weaving machines utilize, for the insertion of the weft, either a single weft picker or weft needle, which conducts the weft over the entire width of the shed, or two opposite weft pickers or Weft needles, of which one conducts the weft to the middle of the shed, whereat it is taken up and drawn by the other picker or needle to the selvedge.

The above needles, especially when they are used on machines of great width, are generally composed of two elements: a flexible strip and a rigid part comprising a needle body and a head, the needle body being fixed on the forward part of the flexible strip.

Outside of the shed the edges of the flexible strip are engaged in rectilinear slideways which are prolonged by an. arch directing the strip towards the lower part of the loom.

A drive Wheel with teeth or dogs meshes with perforations on the strip and imparts a reciprocating movement to the needle.

The drive wheel is driven by a series of mechanical elements which multiply the alternating displacement of a constant stroke from an initial drive in such a ratio that the needle has a course appropriate to the width of the fabric to be produced.

The present invention has the aim of providing weaving machines of the specified type with mechanical drive means for easily and rapidly changing over from the production of fabrics of one specific width to that of fabrics of a different width, for example from the maximum width for which the machine is designed to a smaller width.

To this end according to the present invention a part of the mechanical drive device and the drive wheel of the strip form part of an interchangeable assembly selected among a plurality of interchangeable assemblies each of which is adapted to impart to the strip a stroke of predetermined and differing length.

According to another characteristic of the present invention the interchanegable assembly comprises the drive wheel of the strip and a toothed pinion which is fast with the drive wheel and forms part of the aforementioned mechanical device, the sum of the pitch radii of the drive wheel and of the pinion being the same for all the interchangeable assemblies. By virtue of this arrangement there is no need to provide means for modifying the distance between the strip and the initial drive element (such for example as a toothed sector) when the width of the fabric is modified.

In one embodiment the drive wheel of the strip is mounted in a support which is adjustable in the direction of the length of the strip. Thus it is possible to regulate the extreme point of the stroke of the needle in the shed, firstly to within one step of the drive wheel, then to effect a finer adjustment, by reason of the possibility of longitudinal regulation of the support of the drive wheel.

In another embodiment the interchanegable assembly is mounted in a support fixed on the one hand to an upright connected with the end of the slay and on the other hand to an arch for the guidance of the strip towards the lower part of the machine; the upright having a slot 3,232,32l Patented Feb. 1, 1966 through which the strip-drive wh'eel passes and which opens on the face of the upright turned towards the side of the arch, the upright and the arch being preferably also assembled with one another, in detachable fashion. By reason of this arrangement it is possible inter alia to withdraw the interchanegable assembly and to put it into position, in a direction parallel with the direction of rectilinear guidance of the strip. Furthermore the bulk of the machine is reduced since the arch can thus arrive in the immediate vicinity of the drive Wheel.

The invention will be better understood with reference to the description which will follow of a form of embodiment, given simply by way of non-limitative example, which is represented diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational front view showing the left-hand side of a weaving machine constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding plan View of the upper part only;

FIGURE 3 is a partial exploded view, in elevation, showing the end of the upright, the interchanegable assembly comprising the elements for transmission of movement to the strip, and the 'end of the arch;

FIGURE 4 is a partial exploded plan view corresponding to FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a partial cross-section along the line VV in FIGURE 1 showing the interchanegable assemy;

FIGURE 6 is a section on a larger scale along the line VI-VI in FIGURE 1, at the region of the secur ing of the upright to the slay; and

FIGURE 7 is a view, similarly on a larger scale, of the arch in section along the line VIIVII in FIGURE 1.

In the drawings, 1 designates the slay which is mounted on swords 2 which are pivoted on a horizontal shaft 3 supported by the frame 4 of the machine. The slay 1 is driven by a usual drive means. In known manner the slay 1 carries guides 5 for the flexible strip 6, the forward end of Which (not shown in the drawings) carries the needle body and the head.

Upright 7 is fixed at its upper part as at 8 to the slay 1.

Arch or guide 9 is fixed to upper part 10 and to lower parts 11 of upright 7. The arch ensures the guidance of the strip 6 in its return stroke towards the lower part of the loom where it is received in a conduit 12.

In the embodiment as represented, the upright 7 comprises two inclined legs which are fixed by their lower ends at 13 and 13' respectively on the top of an oscillating casing 14 of the kind as described in my United States Patent No. 2,688,344, patented September 7, 1954, which contains a cam 15 with helicoidal groove 16 in which there is engaged a roller 17 mounted at the lower end of an oscillating lever 18 carried by a spindle 19 at rightangles to the shaft 3 and supported by the oscillating casing 14. The cam 15 is screwed on the shaft 3 which is given a rotational movement of one revolution per revolution of the crank shaft.

The upper end of the lever 18 is provided with a toothed sector 20 which is thus in a plane parallel with the plane of the slay and constitutes the drive element of the strip.

An interchangeable assembly 21 is secured on the upright 7 and the arch 9 at points 22 and 23 respectively, and is situated on either side of the junction of these two parts.

The upper part of the upright 7 comprises a conduit 24 (FIGURE 6) which is partly covered by plates 25, the assembly forming a slideway for the strip 6. At its end opposite to the slay the upper part of the upright and the conduit 24 are provided with a slot 26 (FIGURE 4) which opens into the face opposite to the arch 9.

The external periphery of the arch 9 comprises a groove 27 (FIGURE 4) forming a slideway for the strip 6. This groove is closed by a covering band 28 (FIGURES 2 and 7) of steel sheet, one of the ends of which is fixed to a rod 29 (FIGURE 1) which is hooked to the upper end of the arch under two protuberances 3% on the arch. At its other end the band 23 is provided with an attachment 31 and it is placed under tension with the aid of a screw 32 supported by the corresponding end of the conduit 12 which prolongs the arch 9.

The interchangeable assembly 21 comprises a wheel 33 (FIGURES 1 to for driving the strip, and which is mounted on a shaft 34 on which there is keyed a pinion 35. The shaft 34 is supported by two flanges 36 and 37 forming bearings, the ends of which are applied respectively against the front and rear faces of the upright '7 and of the arch 9 on bosses 38 of the upright and 39 of the arch (FIGURES 2 and 3), their securing being effected by the bolts 22 and 2-3. The upper faces 40 and 41 of the flanges 35 and 37 are applied beneath tabs 42 and 43 constituting lateral projections of the upright 7, to which they are fixed by bolts 44, 45, 46 and 47 (FIGURES l, 2 and 5).

The drive Wheel 33 extends up through slot 26 and meshes with the perforations 48 of the strip 6, the drive wheel being driven by the toothed sector 20 which meshes with the pinion 35.

The sum of the pitch radius of the toothed pinion 35 and that of the drive wheel 33, for each of the interchangeable assemblies, is equal to the distance between the pitch cylinder of the toothed sector 20 and the plane passing through the middle of the thickness of the strip 6, it is the same for all the interchangeable assemblies. If the circumferential pitch of the drive wheel 33 and that of the pinion 35 are equal, the sum of the number of teeth of the Wheel and of the number of teeth of the pinion is constant. Thus when the drive wheel for the strip of a first assembly possesses one, two or three teeth more than the toothed wheel of a second assembly, the toothed pinion of the first assembly comprises one, two or three teeth less than that of the second assembly.

The rotation of the cam 15 causes an oscillating movement of the lever 18 which, through the intermediary of the toothed sector 20, the inion 35 and the drive wheel 33, imparts a reciprocating movement to the needle.

For one and the same amplitude of the toothed drive sector 20, it is possible to Obtain different amplitudes of the reciprocating movement of the strip, without any need of modifying the distance between the toothed sector and the strip.

In order to change the interchangeable assembly the bolts 22 and 23, the plates 25, the covering strip 23 and the arch 9 are dismantled, then the four bolts 44, 45, 46 and 47 are removed and the interchangeable assembly is withdrawn towards the exterior of the loom, parallel with the rectilinear guidance of the strip.

In order to ensure the centering of the arch when an interchangeable assembly is placed in position, the arch is equipped with a bearing 49 (FIGURE 3) which engages in the slot 26 of the upright 7. The height position of the arch is obtained by the resting of the faces 50 thereof (FIGURE 3) on the upper faces 40 and 41 (FIG- URE 4) of the flanges.

The interchangeable assembly is provided with securing holes 51, 52, 53, 5 55 and 55 of buttonhole form, permitting a horizontal displacement of a few millimetres on each side of the mean position where the axis of the shaft 34 of the interchangeable assembly 21 is in the same vertical plane as the axis 19 of the oscillating lever 18.

The regulation of the weft picker comprises on the one hand a regulation of the total length of its stroke and on the other hand a regulation of the placing of the said stroke.

The regulation of the length of the stroke is determined by the selection of the interchangeable assembly mounted on the machine. For this purpose there are available a certain number of interchangeable assemblies with toothed wheels for the drive of the strip which possess different, smaller and smaller numbers of teeth, while the pinions fast therewith possess larger and larger numbers of teeth.

The position of the stroke of the weft picker comprises two adjustments, namely an approximate adjustment and a fine adjustment.

The approximate adjustment is effected to within one step of the toothed drive wheel for the strip, that is to say of the distance of two perforations of the strip, following those of the perforations of the strip which are engaged on the teeth of the toothed wheel.

The fine adjustment is eflected by displacing the interchangeable assembly in relation to the strip in the direction of the length of the latter, utilising the play of the four bolts 44, 45, 46, 47, which secure the interchangeable assembly to the frame, in the buttonholes 51 to 56.

It is clearly understood that variants, improvements of details and use of equivalent means can be imagined without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a loom, a weft supplying device comprising an elongated needle-carrying flexible strip, means forming a slideway for said strip, a toothed member, means oscillating said member with a constant amplitude, and a plurality of interchangeable assemblies for imparting to said strip strokes of different lengths, each interchangeable assembly comprising a drive wheel engaging said strip and a pinion meshing with said toothed member and operatively connected with said drive wheel, the sum of the radii of the drive wheel and the pinion being the same for all interchangeable assemblies.

2. A loom according to claim 1, wherein the drive Wheels for the interchangeable assemblies are toothed wheels having the same circumferential pitch as the pinions which are fast therewith.

3. A loom according to claim 1, comprising a support adjustable in the direction of the length of the strip, the drive wheels for the strip being mounted in said support.

4 A loom in accordance with claim 3, said loom having an upright, and a slay connected to said upright, said weft supplying device further comprising an arch having top and bottom portions removably connected to said upright and a groove constituting a further slideway for guiding said strip, and a support carrying said drive wheel and said pinion and removably connected to said upright and said arch, said upright having a slot accommodating said drive wheel and having an open end directed toward said arch for the removal of said drive wheel after the arch has been removed.

5. A loom according to claim 4, wherein the support of the interchangeable assembly comprises two flanges which are removably connected to the sides of the frame and the arch.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 733,586 7/1903 Hutchins 139-123 2,548,662 4/1951 Fletcher et a1. 139-124 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,105,603 7/1955 France.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A LOOM, A WEFT SUPPLYING DEVICE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED NEEDLE-CARRYING FLEXIBLE STRIP, MEANS FORMING A SLIDEWAY FOR SAID STRIP, A TOOTHED MEMBER, MEANS OSCILLATING SAID MEMBER WITH A CONSTANT AMPLITUDE, AND A PLURALITY OF INTERCHANGEABLE ASSEMBLIES FOR IMPARTING TO SAID STRIP STROKES OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS, EACH INTERCHANGEABLE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A DRIVE WHEEL ENGAGING SAID STRIP AND A PINION MESHING WITH SAID TOOTHED MEMBER AND OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH SAID DRIVE WHEEL, THE SUM OF THE RADII OF THE DRIVE WHEEL AND THE PINION BEING THE SAME FOR ALL INTERCHANGEABLE ASSEMBLIES. 